valleyfair!
Hyper Poster
This past week I was out in London and made some trips out to some parks on the days I had free. I got two full days and two half days which worked out quite nicely. Everything was really easy to get to and really enjoyed the parks a lot more then I thought I was going to. Over this trip I visited Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, Adventure Island and Chessington World of Adventures. I'm going to put all the reviews and stuff first then all the photos at the end.
Thorpe Park
Had heavy rain on and of the entire day which made this the most annoying of the park days. I ended up leaving a little early after getting mostly everything I wanted to get on because of the rain. (Got drenched in my jeans... read the portion on Slammer below.) The park itself had a pretty basic feel and reminded me of a Six Flags or Cedar Fair park back home.
Saw- The Ride 8/10
Started the day off with Saw as I made the mistake thinking this would probably draw the longest queues. Only ended up waiting about 10-15 minutes and got on luckily in a front row seat. The theming inside was decent and the drop inside was probably the best part of the ride as it takes you by a little bit of surprise. Also the one guy with the guts shooting up as you head outside as well. The outside portion of the ride was like a basic euro-fighter, but was a bit uncomfortable at parts. Not so much so that it ruined the ride experience as a whole and to that point it was only my second euro-fighter. (SSRBP at Nick Universe the other.) So this was on a greater scale and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Colossus 7/10
Second coaster of the day was Colossus. I may be being nice even giving this a 7. The sign outside said a 10 minute wait so I though great, but that was not the case. One hour and fifteen minutes later I was finally getting on. (Longest 10 minutes of my life.) I was in the third row and was ready for a rough ride from what I have heard and from the rattling you could hear waiting in the queue. It was quite rough and not so enjoyable until the four heartline rolls which were by far the best and smoothest part of the ride.
Nemesis Inferno 8.5/10
This was a good invert, but didn't blow me away. Smooth the whole ride and had some good inversions, but lacked in any serious forces. Ride was also a bit short for a B&M invert. Luckily only waited about 15 minutes to get on.
Stealth 8.5/10
Single Rider line made this a very easy coaster to get on right away. I was not expecting much from it as it lacks in height and speed compared to KK and TTD. The launch was better then I was expecting though and still makes it pretty high up in my count considering what my expectations were for Stealth going in.
X:\ No Way Out 5/10
Dumb. I have heard bad things and got about what I was expecting in terms of satisfaction. What really made me dislike the ride was the fact that the train stops in different brake runs throughout the ride and blasts loud sounds to make it "scary" when it really came off as annoying. Backwards also didn't really do anything for it.
Flying Fish 4/10
Obviously more for the cred then expectations. Only my second ever powered coaster at the time though and was surprised the circuit went around 4 times!
Slammer 8/10
A lot more comfortable of a ride experience then I was expecting. Would actually enjoy seeing more of these get built. However, this is where my day just about ended... I was waiting in line and it was raining lightly and I was thinking the rain is not too bad because it wasn't. As I'm next to get on it starts raining a bit harder, so I thought this would be the last ride for a little bit, and I would go get food until the rain calms down. They let us in and get all locked in and as soon as that happens the rain just pours down like crazy. I was soaked in 20 seconds. Being locked in made it worse and the ride started. Was not that bad in the rain itself minus being uncomfortably wet, though it did even start sleeting during the ride a bit which was not good. To my surprise looking across from the top of Slammer, Stealth was still launching trains. I got off totally uncomfortable and called it a day shortly after that.
Alton Towers
This was one of the parks I had been most looking forward to visiting for years now. My expectations were pretty high and they were blown away. This is by far the most aesthetically beautiful park I have ever been to! I was also quite impressed on the quality of most of the rides with the building restrictions that they do have. I was able to get credit 200 on this day as well, but not really knowing where I was going caused it to be Rita instead of Nemesis like I had originally planned. I entered the day at 198 and was planning on doing Air then Nemesis for number 200, but somehow went the wrong way and ended up in the Dark Forest area of the park. Didn't want to make a big deal of going back to find Nemesis and Air since it was a Saturday I decided Rita would probably be better than Th13teen. So did Th13teen then Rita for number 200.
Th13teen 7.5/10
The ride is alright and the drop in the building is not as big as I was expecting it to be. Going backwards in the dark was probably the best part of the ride itself. The queue is another story... I was in the single rider line and had to wait inside by that electric shock thing for a long time as operations seemed a bit poor. If I have to hear that whisper voice count from 1 to 13 followed by the annoying noise of the electric shock thing one more time I am going to go insane. I had to have heard that at least 20 times.
Rita 8.5/10
Rita exceeded my expectations a bit considering there is not much height on the ride at all. Launch was pretty good and just have to anticipate transitions a little bit and the ride experience is quite nice. Now that it is my 200 it will surely have a special place with me even though it's not much better then average!
Oblivion 9/10
Oblivion definitely exceeded my expectations. Though I have always heard good things I felt a smaller and much shorter dive coaster can only be so exciting. I was wrong, the drop is one of the best and makes Oblivion rank pretty high up in my count.
Sonic Spinball 7/10
I was hoping for a bit more out of this spinner. It was the roughest of the spinners I have been on and that immediately puts it at the bottom of the list of my Maurer/Gerstlauer spinners. I don't want to downplay it too much cause it isn't that bad, but definitely could be better. I always loved Sonic growing up so the character itself is a nice touch for a park to have I think. I did sit next to this kid who had to only have been 8 or 9 and had a bigger mouth then any kid his age I had ever met.
Runaway Mine Train 5/10
Powered coasters are only so exciting, but I can see this being a nice first coaster for someone.
Nemesis 10/10
WOW! I have heard great things and expected a ton from this coaster and was still absolutely blown away. The layout and scenery together on this coaster are amazing and give some nice foot choppers. The theme is not too bad as well. Without a doubt this is a top 5 coaster of mine and the best invert I have ever ridden. (That's right, it blows Montu away.)
Air 8/10
A nice calm and smooth flyer. Also could see this being a good first coaster. Enjoyed it more then I though I would and have now ridden 6 of the 8 B&M Flyers in the world!
During the day I was keeping an eye out for Beastie to get the credit and just couldn't find it no matter where I went. That night when I went online I found out it had been fenced off a few months ago which would explain not finding it.
Adventure Island
A tiny little park on the shore. Really only made the trip to ride Rage. The park itself has a nice little feel and is great for families with smaller kids as 4 of the 5 coasters are all kiddie/family oriented. I was in and out of the park in a whopping 40 minutes on another rainy day.
Mighty Mini Mega 5/10
First coaster of the day as Rage was not open right away and had my own train on this. Not much to say, but it was pretty smooth and good first coaster for someone.
Barnstormer 4.5/10
Right next to Mighty Mini Mega and pretty much the same review, short, but probably a good first coaster and had my own train again as well.
Kiddie Koasta 4/10
Got my own train once again making the credit that much more awkward to grab, but worth it.
Green Scream 5.5/10
Made my way back to that side of the park and Rage was still not open yet so hit this up. A bit longer and more fun family coaster, but still nothing special by any means.
Rage 8/10
My now third euro-fighter and my least favorite of the three. This is on a smaller scale obviously compared to Saw and the only reason I put it lower then Spongebob and Nick Universe is the fact that this was not as smooth. The layouts though between the two are relatively similar.
Chessington World of Adventures
This park had a great feel and I once again enjoyed it more then I though I would. I went into it thinking, how good could a park with a spinner as its main coaster be anything special, but it was. The zoo was nice made a quick run through of that, unfortunately the Gorillas were off display this day though. Lots of greenery in the park and the theming was quite nice as well!
Dragon's Fury 8/10
Hands down the best spinner I have been on! Was not expecting much since Sonic Spinball was so mediocre, but this one is much longer and smoother and just fantastic for a spinner. I was the only one at the ride at the time and got offered to go again without getting out of my seat so of course took another ride right away before going back later in the day.
Vampire 7/10
This is the best suspended coaster of this style I have been on. Really like the open seating more then the carriage style. The second half of the ride is the best part and takes some nice turns which give the nice swinging! Had the front row and almost my own train. Something also caught my eye waiting to dispatch looking at the operators booth, there was a nice sign. At first I couldn't totally read it, but was like "Hey that's the font we use at CF." then looked closer and realized it was from CF! It said:
Commemorating 21 Years of Operation with the Vampire logo then CF Coasterforce.
Rattlesnake 6.5/10
Surprisingly probably the best Mouse style coaster I have been on. Usually these have some jerks or uncomfortable bumps, but this one was very smooth. I have it right there with the one at Hershey Park as my favorites.
Runaway Train 5/10
Another powered coaster this one with much more turning. Three cycles around was more then enough.
Kobra 7/10
Never been on a Giant Disc-O like this before and enjoyed it! The ride cycle was very long and had the most enthusiastic ride ops I cam across of the day.
On to the photos. I usually do my rounds of everything then go back through for photos. Therefore, you will notice I have a whopping 3 photos from Thrope as I called it a day early and didn't bother to run around taking photos in the rain soaking wet.
Waiting for my train back to London:
Spot the Birds Nest in the Loop?
Thorpe Park
Had heavy rain on and of the entire day which made this the most annoying of the park days. I ended up leaving a little early after getting mostly everything I wanted to get on because of the rain. (Got drenched in my jeans... read the portion on Slammer below.) The park itself had a pretty basic feel and reminded me of a Six Flags or Cedar Fair park back home.
Saw- The Ride 8/10
Started the day off with Saw as I made the mistake thinking this would probably draw the longest queues. Only ended up waiting about 10-15 minutes and got on luckily in a front row seat. The theming inside was decent and the drop inside was probably the best part of the ride as it takes you by a little bit of surprise. Also the one guy with the guts shooting up as you head outside as well. The outside portion of the ride was like a basic euro-fighter, but was a bit uncomfortable at parts. Not so much so that it ruined the ride experience as a whole and to that point it was only my second euro-fighter. (SSRBP at Nick Universe the other.) So this was on a greater scale and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Colossus 7/10
Second coaster of the day was Colossus. I may be being nice even giving this a 7. The sign outside said a 10 minute wait so I though great, but that was not the case. One hour and fifteen minutes later I was finally getting on. (Longest 10 minutes of my life.) I was in the third row and was ready for a rough ride from what I have heard and from the rattling you could hear waiting in the queue. It was quite rough and not so enjoyable until the four heartline rolls which were by far the best and smoothest part of the ride.
Nemesis Inferno 8.5/10
This was a good invert, but didn't blow me away. Smooth the whole ride and had some good inversions, but lacked in any serious forces. Ride was also a bit short for a B&M invert. Luckily only waited about 15 minutes to get on.
Stealth 8.5/10
Single Rider line made this a very easy coaster to get on right away. I was not expecting much from it as it lacks in height and speed compared to KK and TTD. The launch was better then I was expecting though and still makes it pretty high up in my count considering what my expectations were for Stealth going in.
X:\ No Way Out 5/10
Dumb. I have heard bad things and got about what I was expecting in terms of satisfaction. What really made me dislike the ride was the fact that the train stops in different brake runs throughout the ride and blasts loud sounds to make it "scary" when it really came off as annoying. Backwards also didn't really do anything for it.
Flying Fish 4/10
Obviously more for the cred then expectations. Only my second ever powered coaster at the time though and was surprised the circuit went around 4 times!
Slammer 8/10
A lot more comfortable of a ride experience then I was expecting. Would actually enjoy seeing more of these get built. However, this is where my day just about ended... I was waiting in line and it was raining lightly and I was thinking the rain is not too bad because it wasn't. As I'm next to get on it starts raining a bit harder, so I thought this would be the last ride for a little bit, and I would go get food until the rain calms down. They let us in and get all locked in and as soon as that happens the rain just pours down like crazy. I was soaked in 20 seconds. Being locked in made it worse and the ride started. Was not that bad in the rain itself minus being uncomfortably wet, though it did even start sleeting during the ride a bit which was not good. To my surprise looking across from the top of Slammer, Stealth was still launching trains. I got off totally uncomfortable and called it a day shortly after that.
Alton Towers
This was one of the parks I had been most looking forward to visiting for years now. My expectations were pretty high and they were blown away. This is by far the most aesthetically beautiful park I have ever been to! I was also quite impressed on the quality of most of the rides with the building restrictions that they do have. I was able to get credit 200 on this day as well, but not really knowing where I was going caused it to be Rita instead of Nemesis like I had originally planned. I entered the day at 198 and was planning on doing Air then Nemesis for number 200, but somehow went the wrong way and ended up in the Dark Forest area of the park. Didn't want to make a big deal of going back to find Nemesis and Air since it was a Saturday I decided Rita would probably be better than Th13teen. So did Th13teen then Rita for number 200.
Th13teen 7.5/10
The ride is alright and the drop in the building is not as big as I was expecting it to be. Going backwards in the dark was probably the best part of the ride itself. The queue is another story... I was in the single rider line and had to wait inside by that electric shock thing for a long time as operations seemed a bit poor. If I have to hear that whisper voice count from 1 to 13 followed by the annoying noise of the electric shock thing one more time I am going to go insane. I had to have heard that at least 20 times.
Rita 8.5/10
Rita exceeded my expectations a bit considering there is not much height on the ride at all. Launch was pretty good and just have to anticipate transitions a little bit and the ride experience is quite nice. Now that it is my 200 it will surely have a special place with me even though it's not much better then average!
Oblivion 9/10
Oblivion definitely exceeded my expectations. Though I have always heard good things I felt a smaller and much shorter dive coaster can only be so exciting. I was wrong, the drop is one of the best and makes Oblivion rank pretty high up in my count.
Sonic Spinball 7/10
I was hoping for a bit more out of this spinner. It was the roughest of the spinners I have been on and that immediately puts it at the bottom of the list of my Maurer/Gerstlauer spinners. I don't want to downplay it too much cause it isn't that bad, but definitely could be better. I always loved Sonic growing up so the character itself is a nice touch for a park to have I think. I did sit next to this kid who had to only have been 8 or 9 and had a bigger mouth then any kid his age I had ever met.
Runaway Mine Train 5/10
Powered coasters are only so exciting, but I can see this being a nice first coaster for someone.
Nemesis 10/10
WOW! I have heard great things and expected a ton from this coaster and was still absolutely blown away. The layout and scenery together on this coaster are amazing and give some nice foot choppers. The theme is not too bad as well. Without a doubt this is a top 5 coaster of mine and the best invert I have ever ridden. (That's right, it blows Montu away.)
Air 8/10
A nice calm and smooth flyer. Also could see this being a good first coaster. Enjoyed it more then I though I would and have now ridden 6 of the 8 B&M Flyers in the world!
During the day I was keeping an eye out for Beastie to get the credit and just couldn't find it no matter where I went. That night when I went online I found out it had been fenced off a few months ago which would explain not finding it.
Adventure Island
A tiny little park on the shore. Really only made the trip to ride Rage. The park itself has a nice little feel and is great for families with smaller kids as 4 of the 5 coasters are all kiddie/family oriented. I was in and out of the park in a whopping 40 minutes on another rainy day.
Mighty Mini Mega 5/10
First coaster of the day as Rage was not open right away and had my own train on this. Not much to say, but it was pretty smooth and good first coaster for someone.
Barnstormer 4.5/10
Right next to Mighty Mini Mega and pretty much the same review, short, but probably a good first coaster and had my own train again as well.
Kiddie Koasta 4/10
Got my own train once again making the credit that much more awkward to grab, but worth it.
Green Scream 5.5/10
Made my way back to that side of the park and Rage was still not open yet so hit this up. A bit longer and more fun family coaster, but still nothing special by any means.
Rage 8/10
My now third euro-fighter and my least favorite of the three. This is on a smaller scale obviously compared to Saw and the only reason I put it lower then Spongebob and Nick Universe is the fact that this was not as smooth. The layouts though between the two are relatively similar.
Chessington World of Adventures
This park had a great feel and I once again enjoyed it more then I though I would. I went into it thinking, how good could a park with a spinner as its main coaster be anything special, but it was. The zoo was nice made a quick run through of that, unfortunately the Gorillas were off display this day though. Lots of greenery in the park and the theming was quite nice as well!
Dragon's Fury 8/10
Hands down the best spinner I have been on! Was not expecting much since Sonic Spinball was so mediocre, but this one is much longer and smoother and just fantastic for a spinner. I was the only one at the ride at the time and got offered to go again without getting out of my seat so of course took another ride right away before going back later in the day.
Vampire 7/10
This is the best suspended coaster of this style I have been on. Really like the open seating more then the carriage style. The second half of the ride is the best part and takes some nice turns which give the nice swinging! Had the front row and almost my own train. Something also caught my eye waiting to dispatch looking at the operators booth, there was a nice sign. At first I couldn't totally read it, but was like "Hey that's the font we use at CF." then looked closer and realized it was from CF! It said:
Commemorating 21 Years of Operation with the Vampire logo then CF Coasterforce.
Rattlesnake 6.5/10
Surprisingly probably the best Mouse style coaster I have been on. Usually these have some jerks or uncomfortable bumps, but this one was very smooth. I have it right there with the one at Hershey Park as my favorites.
Runaway Train 5/10
Another powered coaster this one with much more turning. Three cycles around was more then enough.
Kobra 7/10
Never been on a Giant Disc-O like this before and enjoyed it! The ride cycle was very long and had the most enthusiastic ride ops I cam across of the day.
On to the photos. I usually do my rounds of everything then go back through for photos. Therefore, you will notice I have a whopping 3 photos from Thrope as I called it a day early and didn't bother to run around taking photos in the rain soaking wet.
Waiting for my train back to London:
Spot the Birds Nest in the Loop?
Seriously dude you missed out!
